The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Solenostemon plant botanically known as Solenostemon scutellarioides and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Balconisp’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Cartago, Costa Rica during January 2008. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Solenostemon cultivars with unique foliage coloration and leaf shape, upright growth habit, and good sun tolerance.
The new Solenostemon cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is ‘Florida City Raiford’, not patented, characterized by deep burgundy, yellow, and green colored foliage and vigorous, upright growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Solenostemon scutellarioides breeding selection coded Co7034, not patented, characterized by its medium golden-colored foliage with green-colored margins and vigorous, upright growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during July 2008 in a controlled environment in Cartago, Costa Rica.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since July 2008 in Cartago, Costa Rica and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.